


If a tree falls...

by JustAnotherWriter (N1ghtshade)



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Whump, short fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 14:24:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16087925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtshade/pseuds/JustAnotherWriter
Summary: Usually Mac's the one getting people out of sticky situations with whatever's on hand. The problem is, this time he's the one in trouble, and they're running out of time.





	If a tree falls...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tommino](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tommino/gifts).



> So this is part of a challenge I'm doing on Tumblr that a lot of other folks on here are doing too. I'm going to be posting over a lot of my fics once I've completed the whole thing, but this one was a special request for an AO3 posting so it's going up early! Keep an eye out for more, they'll be coming eventually :)

When Jack finds him, Mac’s curled up in the bed of the creek, part of the tree the storm just broke off hiding him from clear sight.

“Hey Mac, I guess this tree made a sound when it fell, huh?” Jack really wants to hear the snarky reply he’s sure to get if Mac’s okay.

There’s nothing but a gasping breath for a reply. Jack rushes around the tree and kneels in the rain. Mac’s lying half in and half out of the water, shaking, trying and failing to stop hyperventilating.

“Riley!” Jack shouts. She’s already running toward them.

“J-jack, I c-c-can’t move.” Mac’s shuddering, gasping. “Wh-when it f-fell…my l-leg…I think it-it’s broken.” Jack can see the upper part of Mac’s leg solidly pinned between a rock and that fallen log. _Damn it._ And if he’s right about a broken bone, and he probably is, that’s a broken femur and it’s got to be hurting like hell.

“Mac, you’re gonna be okay.” Riley moves down toward him. “I’m calling for an evac right now.”

“It-it’ll be t-too l-late,” Mac whispers. “The w-water’s r-r-rising.” Sure enough, what was at Jack’s ankles is now climbing up his shins. “The r-rain’s t-too hard. It’s g-going to go ov-over my head b-b-before they g-get here.”

“Then we’re going to find a way to get you up on high ground.” Jack’s already standing up and looking around for anything Mac would use if it was one of them trapped down here. _Come on, you’ve spent six years with this genius. Something must have rubbed off._

“It’s c-cold, Jack,” he whispers. “I c-can’t r-really f-f-feel my foot an-anymore.”

“Hang on, we’re gonna get you out.” Jack glances around for anything they can use as a lever. He’s learned a few things from Mac.

“N-no, that’s on-only going t-to roll it,” Mac says when Jack returns with two thick branches. “Y-you need t-to f-find something to use f-for a f-fulcrum.” _What on earth am I gonna be able to find out here?_

“Hey Mac, what would you suggest I use for that, huh?”

“F-find a r-rock or a l-log o-or s-s-something. P-please, h-h-hurry.” Jack finds two semi-large rocks that are as large as he can manage without throwing his back out. Just trying to lift this tree off is going to make him sore for days.

He lines them up in a way that’s going to take the least amount of work to raise the branch and slip Mac’s leg out. “Okay, Ri, three, two, one, push!” They’re both straining, but Jack can hear the wood creaking as the tree moves.

And then Mac screams. Jack’s sure it’s just the pain as the pressure on his leg’s released, but the yell of agony suddenly becomes words. “Jack, STOP!”

“I know it hurts, Mac, but we gotta get you outta there before you drown,” Jack groans, holding his lever steady. The water’s already at Mac’s chest and climbing.

“N-no, th-there’s a br-branch. In m-my l-leg. I -c-can’t tell if it h-hit an-anything v-v-vital. If y-you p-p-pull it out, I-I’ll b-bleed out b-b-before an evac g-gets h-here.”

“Well, if we leave you there you’re gonna drown.”

“C-cut it o-off.” He fumbles at his pocket and holds up his knife, opened to the small saw.

“What, your leg?” Jack asks, shock throwing ice down his spine. _Good God, I can’t do that. Not with a pocketknife and not to Mac._

“N-no, Jack, the b-branch!” Mac sounds pretty much hysterical at this point and Jack can’t blame him. _Me too, bud, cause I thought you just told me to perform an amputation._ “Y-you n-need t-to c-c-cut it so it c-c-comes with m-me.” His words are starting to slur and make no sense, but Jack understands.

“Riley, I’m gonna hold this steady. You get down there and cut that branch away from the tree trunk.” She crouches in the water, sawing away, pushing her wet hair out of her face. The water’s to Mac’s chin now.

“Ri, hurry that up a little, can ya?” Jack asks.

“Yeah, Jack, almost done.” Riley stands up. “Okay, I think we can do it now.” It’s gonna have to be good enough. Mac’s gasping for breath and the water’s nearly over his lips.

“Okay, bud, you’re gonna have to pull yourself out when we get this up, okay?” Mac shakes, but nods. “Okay, Riley, now!”

The tree creaks up, and Mac shoves himself backward, short, broken screams slipping past his lips at the pain. And then his foot’s out from under and Jack lets go of the log and grabs his partner’s shoulders and pulls him up.

Mac’s shivering uncontrollably, covered in mud and blood, and there’s a jagged branch almost half an inch in diameter sticking out of his leg. But he’s alive.

They huddle there on the bank of the creek, above the level Mac thinks the water will get too, curled up in a group under the emergency blankets from their packs, because they’re all cold and wet, and Mac’s probably long ago gone into shock. When Jack hears chopper rotors over the pattering rain and crashing thunder, he looks at Mac and grins.

“We did it, man. We’re gonna be okay.”


End file.
